Owners of vehicles equipped with telematics systems are continuing to voice a need for selectable services to be used on an occasional basis. For example, there are times when the vehicle owner would like to add additional non-emergency services to their base service for the purpose of getting driving directions or making hotel or restaurant reservations. These services can be especially needed in the case of rental vehicles where the user might not be familiar with his or her surroundings.
Providing these occasional services, however, can be very costly. A “pay per use” solution, for example, requires the use of special equipment that is permanently affixed inside the vehicle. This warrants equipment purchases and installation charges that increase the cost of ownership of the vehicle. Furthermore, permanently affixing the telematics equipment to the vehicle causes damage to the vehicle and therefore decreases the value of the vehicle. This equipment may also take up valuable space in the vehicle and introduce another item that has to be monitored for theft and technical maintenance.
These costs could prove to be extreme, especially in cases when the additional services might or might not be used.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a method for allowing user-selected telematics services that overcomes the above-mentioned limitations.